Who is Sir Jeffrey Donaldson? DUP leader steps down after criminal charges

Published

1 month ago

March 30, 2024

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Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been an ever-present feature of the political landscape in Northern Ireland for several decades.

But his leadership of the Democratic Unionist Party came to an end on 29 March, when it revealed Donaldson had resigned as chief after he was charged with sexual offences of a “historical nature”.

Born in County Down in the 1960s, he was raised during the Troubles and has been a vocal campaigner for unionism throughout his life.

Donaldson came to the fore after the UK left the EU for his opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol – which he believed undermined Northern Ireland‘s place in the United Kingdom.

Growing up and family deaths

Donaldson was born in 1962 and raised in Kilkeen in County Down alongside four brothers and three sisters in what he described as “a traditional, rural, home-centred upbringing”.

As a boy, his “childhood innocence was shattered” by the Troubles – in 1970 his cousin Samuel Donaldson, a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, was killed in an IRA car bombing.

As a young man, he joined the Orange Order, a protestant group in which he later became an Assistant Grand Master.

He was at one point chairman of the Ulster Young Unionist Council, and also joined the Ulster Defence Regiment – a part of the British Army which mainly consisted of volunteers, who largely spent their time guarding key points, patrolling, carrying out surveillance, and manning vehicle checkpoints.

In 1985 Samuel’s brother, Alex, was also killed by the IRA, in a mortar attack on a police station.

Run up to the Good Friday Agreement and defection

In the early 1980s, Donaldson worked on Enoch Powell’s campaigns to be elected as an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP for South Down.

Donaldson was later elected as a UUP member of the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1985 at the age of 22.

He was elected to the House of Commons in 1997 and was a member of the UUP’s negotiating team for what became the Good Friday Agreement.

However, he voted against the deal in the subsequent referendum and warned UUP leader David Trimble against supporting it.

In 1998, he was blocked from standing in the elections for the Stormont assembly.

Having continued to agitate under Lord Trimble’s leadership, Donaldson left the UUP in 2003 and joined the DUP, having been re-elected to Stormont.

Brexit, Northern Ireland Protocol and the party leadership

Donaldson has served consistently as the DUP MP for Lagan Valley, but stood down from the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2010, having served in government in Belfast.

He was notable for his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion – which Westminster legalised in Northern Ireland.

In 2016 he was knighted in the birthday honours list for political service.

In the same year, he supported Brexit, and became associated with the Theresa May administration in 2017 as part of the confidence and supply arrangement which saw the DUP support Mrs May’s government in key votes.

However, the party opposed the deal Mrs May put to parliament in 2019.

Since the implementation of Brexit, Donaldson has opposed the Northern Ireland Protocol, which he says undermines the Good Friday Agreement he voted against.

In 2019 he became the leader of the DUP at Westminster, and was elected leader of the party as a whole in 2021.

He successfully stood in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly elections, but has said he will not take up the seat until the situation with the Northern Ireland Protocol can be resolved.

Last year, Donaldson refused to endorse the Windsor Framework, which was intended to resolve issues with the Protocol – and is still sitting as an MP at Westminster.

Power-sharing returned in Northern Ireland in early 2024, after Donaldson and the DUP agreed on a way forward with the UK government on post-Brexit trade.

His resignation was confirmed on Good Friday 2024, and it was announced that his deputy, Gavin Robinson MP, would be made interim leader.

It is understood Donaldson will be “strenuously contesting” all charges against him.

Politics

Polls to open for voters in England and Wales

Published

37 mins ago

May 2, 2024

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Polls to open for voters in England and Wales

Polls are to open for the local elections across the country, with the added extra of a by-election on the same day.

Over 2,600 council seats are up for grabs across 107 councils in England, along with 10 mayoralties in major cities and combined authorities, and 25 London Assembly seats.

A total of 37 police and crime commissioners will also be decided at ballot boxes in England and Wales.

And a new MP will be chosen for the seat of Blackpool South in a by-election.

Polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm tonight, and as long as you are in the queue before closing time, you can have your say.

Voters need to bring along a form of photo ID after a change in the law last year – there are 22 types that fit the bill.

And to vote you must be 18 or over, be either a British, Irish or EU citizen, or from an eligible Commonwealth nation, and be registered.

The first of the counts will begin after voting closes tonight and Sky News will bring you all the updates as they happen from across the country.

Further counts will take place over the weekend, with the last results expected on Saturday night.

Politics

US probes Jack Dorsey’s Block, Inc. over financial transactions: Report

Published

56 mins ago

May 2, 2024

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US probes Jack Dorsey’s Block, Inc. over financial transactions: Report

U.S. prosecutors are reportedly investigating the fintech firm after a whistleblower claimed it processed thousands of transactions for users from sanctioned countries and terrorist groups.

Politics

John Swinney expected to declare bid to become new SNP leader

Published

3 hours ago

May 2, 2024

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John Swinney expected to declare bid to become new SNP leader

John Swinney is expected to declare his bid to become the new leader of the SNP later today, Sky News understands.

It comes after Humza Yousaf announced he was standing down as SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister following his decision last week to cut power-sharing ties with the Scottish Greens – a move which saw his leadership collapse.

Mr Swinney previously served as SNP leader between 2000 and 2004; later becoming Nicola Sturgeon’s number two from 2014 to 2023.

He is considered a front-runner for the top job once again, having garnered support from senior figures within his party, including from the SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn.

The Perthshire North MSP is expected to make a statement in Edinburgh on Thursday morning.

However, he could face competition from the party’s former finance minister Kate Forbes, who narrowly lost out to Mr Yousaf in last year’s leadership election.

Though the Skye, Lochaber, and Badenoch MSP has not confirmed her intention to enter the leadership contest, she has so far refused to rule herself out of the race.

“I am still considering all the options, but I also know that there is a lot of support for me across the country and across the party, and last year proved that,” she told Sky News on Tuesday.

Read more from Sky News:
Scottish government survives vote of no confidence

It comes after the outgoing first minister, Mr Yousaf, was forced to resign following the breakdown of the Bute House Agreement.

Within hours of the power-sharing deal coming to an end, Mr Yousaf faced the threat of a no confidence vote in himself, and later from one in the Scottish government.

Mr Yousaf stepped down as Scotland’s first minister just after midday on Monday, saying he was “not willing to treat my values and principles or do deals with whomever simply for retaining power”.

He said he would remain in post until a replacement first minister was chosen.